cantstandit's recent activity
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Comment on Human ancestors nearly went extinct 900,000 years ago in ~science
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Comment on Human ancestors nearly went extinct 900,000 years ago in ~science
cantstandit LinkI'm trying to understand the last paragraph. Even though Ashton seems to be in agreement with the finding on the whole, is he implying that there were ancestors of modern humans, or perhaps...I'm trying to understand the last paragraph.
Ashton would like to see the researchers’ findings backed by more archaeological and fossil evidence. The authors “suggest that the bottleneck was a global crash in population,” he says, “but the number of archaeological sites outside Africa suggests that this is not the case. A regional bottleneck might be more likely.”
Even though Ashton seems to be in agreement with the finding on the whole, is he implying that there were ancestors of modern humans, or perhaps ancestors of Neanderthals and Denisovans who eventually added to our gene pool, that survived outside of Africa this early? Because the article seems to make it clear that this population was before any of those existed.
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Comment on Where do you stand on climate change? in ~talk
cantstandit Link ParentI know back in the 70s the popular media was touting the return to an ice age, but scientists of the time were already disagreeing with that. In fact, they were already talking about global...I know back in the 70s the popular media was touting the return to an ice age, but scientists of the time were already disagreeing with that. In fact, they were already talking about global warming back then. I'm specifically thinking of the scientists at NOAA.
While the evidence for human involvement in climate change is overwhelming, I don't think climatologists in general think we were supposed to be headed into an ice age currently.
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Comment on Where do you stand on climate change? in ~talk
cantstandit Link ParentCan you explain what you are basing this on? Is it the more ancient ice age cycles? I've understood the intervals to be 100,000 years for the last 800,000 years. They were 40,000 year intervals...Can you explain what you are basing this on? Is it the more ancient ice age cycles? I've understood the intervals to be 100,000 years for the last 800,000 years. They were 40,000 year intervals before that. The last ice age maximum was some 20,000 years ago. Considering that the pattern for 800,000 years has been the 100,000 year cycle, it would not seem that we are currently going in the direction of an ice age even without human activity.
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Comment on Let's talk nostalgia in ~talk
cantstandit LinkSo many things. Life before the interstates and bypasses had us traveling through many towns. Every town was different with unique stores and restaurants. In my earliest memories, even McDonalds...So many things. Life before the interstates and bypasses had us traveling through many towns. Every town was different with unique stores and restaurants. In my earliest memories, even McDonalds hadn't made it to our area, although I've heard there was one some 40 miles away. I guess we never went to that area. One negative was traffic. You were stuck behind the slowest driver, sometimes with lines of cars behind them at least 30 or 40 cars deep, and passing was scary when someone tried to pass five cars at a time. There were certain popular destinations where you knew this was what the trip would be like for the better part of an hour or more. Multi-lane roads exitsed, but not necessarily in the directions you wanted to go.
Summertime felt like forever. When school got out, life was ours. We'd bring buckets to pick blackberries that grew wild less then a mile from our home. We invented our games, or at least as one of the youngest in the neighborhood group it felt that way. Water fights were one of my favorite. We could stay out late playing flashlight tag. When we got bored, someone would come up with something to do. From putting on silly plays, to climbing on someone's roof without a ladder (never did that again), to impromtu ballgames, to just hanging around talking. We were outside and moving most of the day. Inside there was no air-conditioning, so remembering the sound of the big floor fan brings me right back to those days.
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Comment on If the Moon were only 1 pixel - A tediously accurate map of the solar system in ~space
cantstandit LinkYou posted this a while ago, but I love things like this. And this was a really good way to get perspective on a few things for me. The first thing to hit me was the comparative distances between...You posted this a while ago, but I love things like this. And this was a really good way to get perspective on a few things for me. The first thing to hit me was the comparative distances between the earth and the moon and the earth and Mars. I remember the Apollo missions. I remember the tenseness of waiting for the astronauts to come home because the distances were so incredible and the dangers were so real. Space was just such a foreign place for people to go. Every time they went up it was the same for me. Apollo 13 was, of course, a particularly anxious time and we were all very relieved when they came home alive. I remember being very impressed that the Russians were willing to help us out when the astronauts had to be retrieved from the ocean. In the midst of the Cold War, it was a nice feeling.
Now to think of humans going to Mars which is so much farther... It's mind boggling.
The second thing that really struck me was the distance between Mars and the asteroid belt, not to mention Jupiter. After a lifetime of school models, the greater distances between the further planets is pretty amazing.
The third thing was the huge distances between Jupiter and its moons and then Saturn and its moons.
And finally, as an oldtimer, I'm so glad Pluto got its chance to be included. Some old habits die hard.
I also enjoyed the philosphical parts. The nothingness of the matter that is out there (and right here) in the midst of a much bigger nothingness, but that fact that it makes those insignificant specks so incredibly significant, including life on Earth.
Thanks for posting this.
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Comment on Stop talking to each other and start buying things: Three decades of survival in the desert of social media in ~tech
cantstandit LinkThat was a long article, but definitely worth the read. After reading the detail of the systematic destruction of favorite meeting places on the internet, I couldn't help but be reminded of the...- Exemplary
That was a long article, but definitely worth the read. After reading the detail of the systematic destruction of favorite meeting places on the internet, I couldn't help but be reminded of the systematic buyouts of the print media in the late 80s and 90s when news went from detailed articles that discussed pros and cons, that is, both sides of an issue, far more than they do now and became media with the photo of the sexy lady on every page six. I remember the huge headlines in the remaining print media of the latest buyouts trying to act as alarms warning of the end of real information.
Then I watched as broadcast news went from a learning experience where panels often were assembeled with people on different sides of an issue, to lack of information, to misinformation. In those earlier days of news, those panels would discuss their very different views of a topic, argued with one another mostly in a civil manner, and we learned. In these current days of news, we get information devoid of detail and are encouraged to become entrenched.
Information is power. The ability to get information, accurate, detailed information, to a large number of people quickly, is vital to a nation's health. Think about that.
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Comment on Not entirely sure how to fill the void Reddit has left in ~talk
cantstandit Link ParentThat looks amazingly familiar. The one my father put together wasn't a heathkit. At least it doesn't have the word heathkit on it, but it looks almost the same. He built the furniture that the...That looks amazingly familiar. The one my father put together wasn't a heathkit. At least it doesn't have the word heathkit on it, but it looks almost the same. He built the furniture that the speakers became a part of as well. That generation had some fantastic skills.
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Comment on Not entirely sure how to fill the void Reddit has left in ~talk
cantstandit Link ParentHow my father complained when he couldn't fix things anymore because of components. He was an electrical engineer by trade and not so much a jack-of-all-trades but more of a master-of-many-trades...How my father complained when he couldn't fix things anymore because of components. He was an electrical engineer by trade and not so much a jack-of-all-trades but more of a master-of-many-trades man. He rebuilt car engines, manufacturing some parts when things got so old that they no longer sold the parts. But little by little, newer purchases were unrepairable. He had to stop working on engines when they were more like "spaghetti" as he used to like to say.
I used to chuckle when younger people complained about us luddites. I have nowhere near my father's skills, but the man used to design motherboards. Sometimes he would mosy down to the shops and build them too. He was perfectly comfortable with electronics in general and comfortably used a PC right until the end. And he would have been over 100 this year. It's one of the reasons I love talking with people of all generations. Each one is as varied as can be.
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Comment on Not entirely sure how to fill the void Reddit has left in ~talk
cantstandit Link ParentThis is how I feel. I've been on Tildes for a few years now, but have pretty much only lurked. The influx of people has been nice. I'm finding the conversations more interesting at the moment,...This is how I feel. I've been on Tildes for a few years now, but have pretty much only lurked. The influx of people has been nice. I'm finding the conversations more interesting at the moment, much like Reddit of many years ago. The topics have been more in line with things I'm interested in. I have to admit, I stopped even visiting this site for a while when I didn't see much outside of subjects that appeal to the younger generations or just weren't in my areas of interest. I'd peek back in from time to time, but I often didn't even log in. Lately I've been visiting more often, logging in, and enjoying it.
I'm another generation Jones. I loved r/askoldpeople. I loved when the young people talked about old things that even my children remember as being brand new. But I also loved the randomness of coming across subjects I didn't even know I'd be interested in. I'm finding more of that here now than before.
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Comment on Capitalism isn't 'broken'. It's working all too well - and we're the worse for it in ~finance
cantstandit Link ParentHigh corporate taxes went pretty far in keeping the workers paid better. If the profits were just going to be taxed, the business usually chose to spend the money rather than pay it in taxes....High corporate taxes went pretty far in keeping the workers paid better. If the profits were just going to be taxed, the business usually chose to spend the money rather than pay it in taxes. Trickle down theory was just the opposite of the reality. When taxes are lowered for the wealthy, the money flows upwards to them. When taxes are higher, then there is a trickle down to people who benefit from the CEO's willingness to spend more money, to avoid taxes.
So this would confirm @AdiosLunes' guess. The confusion is that the article is specifically referring to modern human's ancestors and Ashton's speculation is about the total picture of hominids. The survivors outside of Africa would be a population that would not be represented in our genetics except through common ancestry much further back. Would that be a fair understanding?